Old pilot report

[skyking13]

The following is a reprint of post #3036 from the yahoo ultralights
group posted on June 28th...there are several photo's in the files
section of that group under Bob's airplane pic's.


Pilot Report: Earthstar Aircraft, Thunder Gull Odyssey

"You'll find the small country road about two miles off the
main highway, down that road a couple of miles past the railroad
tracks make a left turn and then go twelve miles to the orange
mailbox, right up the dirt road, through the opening in the barbed
wire fence, and up to the top of the hill...you'll see the hanger."
Those were the directions that Mark Beirerle, designer of the Thunder
Gull series of sport and ultralight aircraft gave me to get up to his
ranch near Santa Margarita, California for a test flight of the
Odyssey two seat sport trainer he builds through his company
Earthstar Aircraft.
Had I known that I would be traveling up that mile of dirt
road my son Jacob and I would have driven something other than my low
slung sports car. Up the road I passed several areas of old cars and
farm outbuildings common to the oak forests and hills of the central
California coast. Upon reaching the crest of the hill, a large barn
type building sat next to a few trailers, a non operative tractor,
other smaller outbuildings, and a trail/road/runway of about 10 feet
in width.
Parking next to the barn, we discovered that the directions
were in fact accurate when we caught our first glimpse of a pretty
yellow Thunder Gull J single seat ultralight. A few minutes later
Mark Beirerle, designer of the aircraft introduced himself and we
began discussing the subject of sport aircraft and flying in general.
My purpose that day was to test fly the two seat Odyssey.
Having been sidelined from flying GA aircraft after a heart attack a
couple of years ago, my interest is turning to these sport aircraft
as a viable alternative to the minimalist ultralights versus not
flying at all. Keeping abreast of the developments relative to the
notice to proposed rule making (NPRM) involving the new designation
of "sport pilot" and "sport aircraft" I narrowed the field of
possible contenders to a few "sport" type airplanes; the two top
contenders, the Titan Tornado, and the Thunder Gull Odyssey.
I first had an opportunity to see the Titan at an EAA meeting
at Lompoc, California. Both a single seater and a two-seat model
were there and the two-seat model was being offered for sale at that
time. As this was a little early in my search I didn't have a chance
to fly the Titan but was impressed with the looks and workmanship of
the aircraft. The Titan Tornado is a true tandem seater (one seat
directly behind the pilot seat) and the front cockpit seat is very
snug for someone of my size (6'2"/235 lbs.). The Thunder Gull
Odyssey however is what I'd guess you'd call modified tandem/side-by-
side. The passenger seat (or instructor) is offset to the right and
back about a foot from the front right pilot seat. This arrangement
allows easy communication and line of sight between the pilot and
passenger as well as sufficient hip, shoulder, and headroom, to make
traveling a comfortable proposition in the Odyssey. There is even
enough room for a cup holder for those of you with SUV's and an ever-
present insulated coffee mug.
Mark and I discussed the shared histories of the Thunder Gull
series of aircraft and the Titan's with Mark pointing out the obvious
advantages of the larger cockpit. Walking across Mark's property on
the top of the hill on the California central coast, Mark described
another Thunder Gull single seater owned by a local man, and I found
the remains of another very odd attempt at a flying machine with a
foam and fiberglass "crash cocoon" attached where the test pilot
(read dummy) would be encased during the attempt at powered flight.
Out of a small three-sided hanger Mark pulled out the Odyssey
two-seater. My inspection of the aircraft showed an apparent
attention to detail as well as Mark's reasoned approach to this
minimalist airplane. Entering the cockpit was easy as Mark provided
doors on both sides of the fuselage. The single control stick has
a "M" shaped member with a handgrip on each end of the "M". This
dual control was reminiscent of the Robinson series of helicopters
and reminded me of some of the old "throw over" yokes as found on
older Beechcraft Bonanza's. At any rate the placement of the yoke
and throttle allowed easy control of the aircraft from either seat,
an important point considering that the only legitimate purpose for
the aircraft is as a trainer.
Mark's "airport" is little more than a 10-12 foot wide trail
carved into the side of a hill. At the top of the hill there is a
turn around leading to the first portion of the hill with about a 7%
grade! As Mark said, "Just add full power, rotate at 50, and fly
away." The downhill take off didn't take much longer than the last
sentence takes to say. The 62 horse power HKS engine powering a
French made hi-tech prop got us up to 50 mph in less than 200 feet
and rotation and climb out went easily. One notch of flaps are used
for the take off and those were retracted shortly after climb was
established and there were no obstacles left to clear (easy when
you're taking off from the top of a hill!).
Using 60mph for climb we indicated greater than 500fpm
through 3000ft msl on a warm summer day in California. Leveling at
about 4000 feet I put the aircraft through the basic maneuvers: Power
off/on clean/dirty stall series, accelerated stalls, chandelles, lazy
and energetic eight's, and even some general gross manhandling to try
to provoke a nasty response from this little airplane. The most I
was able to coax out of the wing was a bit of stall burble with power
off/full flaps and a bit of yanking on the stick. With full power
with the stick held full back the aircraft climbs at 300fpm at about
42mph indicated. Full flaps and power off with the stick held full
aft produced a fully controllable descent at about 600fpm. Ailerons
were fully effective throughout the stalls as was the rudder thus
preventing the dropping of a wing with positive control inputs.
Leveling the aircraft for cruise produces about 96mph
indicated on about 65% power at 4000 feet on an above standard day.
Without my trusty E6B I could only guess that 100mph would work for
flight planning purposes. The aircraft flies with only fingertip
pressure when trimmed. Although the irregularities in the air this
day caused the need for a bit of correction when we were bounced
about, the sensation was more of a gentle ride on an uneven road
than "bouncing around" with unsecured items being thrown about the
cabin. Perhaps if there were a bit more turbulence the ride wouldn't
be as nice, but it is apparent that even in strong turbulence the
aircraft would be fully controllable.
Returning to Mark's home field we made one pass down wind
(downhill?) to wake up my son and then set up a standard downwind,
base, and final approach flying final at about 50mph with full
flaps. Touchdown zone on the side of Mark's hill was a flat area of
about 80 feet then traveling uphill towards the take off area more
than 500 feet up hill. The Odyssey flies well and doesn't like to
come down. Mark suggested slipping so I crossed controlled the
airplane sufficiently to produce a nice descent rate and kicked the
skid out about 30ft above the touchdown zone. A quick flare and
short rollout produced a landing of no more than 200 feet!
It's hard not to exit any airplane after landing with a smile
on one's face. The Odyssey did not disappoint in providing ample
reason to grin. The flying qualities are very nice either for a ham
fisted student pilot, or for an experienced graybeard with jet-a in
his veins. The fit and finish are as good as any Cessna I've seen
(better than some old production aircraft) and the performance gets
the aircraft up to the point that it could be used as a cross-country
machine. Mark has flown from California to Florida on several
occasions and the Odyssey can truly cross the country in four days
flying time. Mark says that even when he was flying in rain so hard
that he couldn't see out the windscreen the aircraft had no
appreciable leaks. Although most of us won't be flying in inclement
weather in our sport aircraft, it's nice to know that it will keep us
dry if the heavens do open up.
My only suggestion for Mark would be the placement of
the "Johnson Rod" flap-operating handle. He mounted it on the roof
of the cabin with a bicycle handbrake release. A pull on the
operating handle lowers the first notch of flaps and the second notch
is full flaps. I've spent many hours in Piper Cherokee's and found
that operating the flaps with a "Johnson Rod" to be nice and positive
but the mounting on the floor seemed to be more instinctive for the
pilot. I would have preferred an electric switch with preset setting
for flap positions but Mark was satisfied with the simpler
installation. All in all he's done one hell of a job in creating a
very nice flying airplane.
Now comes the long process of following the progress for
the "sport pilot" NPRM, finding help in getting the issuance of an
Advanced Ultralight Instructor Certificate based on my old Commercial
Pilot license and Certified Flight Instructor rating, finding a bit
of hanger floor at my local country airport in Santa Ynez,
California, and convincing the wife that this is just something every
husband gets in the afternoon of his life.

About the Author:
Robert Perry is a 50 year old Business Manager. He has over
4,000 hours in General Aviation aircraft ranging from ultralights to
a Beechcraft King Air over a twenty year flying career. He has held
FAA Commercial, SEL MEL Instrument Airplane ratings, with a Single
Engine Flight Instructor certificate